Printable media jams, or jams, occur in printing devices or printers, such as laser printers, color printers, facsimile machines, photocopiers and combination devices having print capabilities. Jams often prove difficult to find and remedy, as jams may occur at various locations along printable media paths of printing devices. The printable media typically takes the form of printable substrates, such as paper or plastic substrates. Approaches to dealing with a jam typically only advise that a jam has occurred. In some cases, the printer will provide a single indication of a general area of the media jam. In other instances, detailed instructions for locating and clearing areas where jams typically occur may be disposed on the inside front door of the printing device, or may be included in a user's guide or on-line manual.
Typically, once a media jam is detected, all media in the media path as stopped. Once the media is stopped, a media jam message is provided. Once the user has finished the steps needed to clear the jam condition, the printing device goes through a path checking process and detects other areas where media needs to be removed to resume printing. The user needs to follow these steps until all the media in the paper path is removed.
Alternative mechanisms for enabling a user to locate and resolve media jams are desired.